The Summer That Melted Everything

July 1, 2016

It's the summer of 1984 and a heat wave is scorching the small town of Breathed, OH. Seemingly out of nowhere, a boy named Sal appears. He's wearing overalls and asking strangers for ice cream. He also claims to be the devil. He relates anecdotes about Hell, makes nonchalant remarks to narrator Fielding Bliss about his "fall," and generally makes people wary and uncomfortable--all but the Bliss family, who think he's a runaway and immediately take him in. Knowledge of Sal's presence spreads, and temperatures and tensions rise. When accidents start to occur, predictably, the townspeople blame Sal. But life in Breathed isn't all that it seems. As families and fanatics fight their personal demons, the line between good and evil becomes increasingly murky. Despite the sometimes heavy-handed and overworked prose, at its highest points this debut novel shines with beauty and lyricism. VERDICT Give this to fans of atmospheric fiction, particularly those who enjoy the grit of Donald Ray Pollock, the foreshadowing of Shirley Jackson, and the mounting suspense of Peter Straub.--Erin Entrada Kelly, Philadelphia

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2016
Thirteen-year-old Fielding Bliss is the first one to see the Devil, who has come to Bliss' small Ohio hometown at the seemingly whimsical invitation of the boy's father. Perhaps surprisingly, the Devil appears in the form of a 13-year-old black boy named Salat least he claims to be the Devil. And perhaps he is, for with him come an unprecedented heat wave and drought that begin to test people's sanity. In the meantime, Sal has come to live with Fielding, and the boys have become like brothers, even as a man named Elohimthe name of Godhas become their bete noire, determined to visit vengeance on Sal. Obviously, first-novelist McDaniel is strivingthrough sometimes too-obvious symbolismfor large meaning here and, in its pursuit, has a tendency to overwrite. Though she is not unskilledshe's capable of stirring powerful emotionssome readers may feel that she has chosen to punish her most sympathetic characters, relentlessly bringing misfortune to their lives. All this aside, however, she has written an ambitious novel that will invite thought and surely spark discussion.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)